With its shimmering palaces and decaying mansions enchanted forests andbasements full of Soviet art the history of St. Petersburg comes alive in thismemoir of o... » 

With its shimmering palaces and decaying mansions enchanted forests andbasements full of Soviet art the history of St. Petersburg comes alive in thismemoir of one art devotees journey to reveal the strength and wonder behindRussias crumbling facades. These writings reflect the authors experiences inthe artistic landscapes she inhabits from the eerie beauty of Dostoevskisstreets on a white night to stories of struggling artists and dignifiedintellectuals eking out existences in claustrophobic studio apartments. Acompelling immersion into the Russia of today this travel narrative shows St.Petersberg to be a city of ghosts and illusions where past and present andreality and fiction are inextricably fused. «